


The Petals Unfold (Volume 1) [Ongoing]

by Ferosify



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-21
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-20 21:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12441885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ferosify/pseuds/Ferosify
Summary: Phoenix Garnet Moon, owner of disbanded weapons company Moon-Access. Teal Indigo, human orphan living in Menagerie. Lilac Mona, heiress of the second largest transport company RELOS. Sen Ye, student of a village elder.When the world saw the fall of Beacon, it plunged into chaos. But the threat this time is not the creatures of Grimm, the threat of war, or the White Fang.It is something else. Just as dangerous and horrifying if not more.How will our four heroes come together to tackle this threat before the end of everything they know? Read and find out...





	1. The Prologues  - Bull's-eye, Storm and Tide, The Song, Yang

**Bulls-eye**

 

**Two Years ago...**

BANG!

A story always starts with a bang. Well, not all stories do, but this one does.

It starts with a loud bang; a bang that seemingly could be heard from miles away; a bang so loud it shook the earth and knocked all the birds into the air.

Then silence.

A young man wearing a red blazer lay on the floor and groaned. He then laughed.

He laughed at the destruction he caused on the White Fang base, on the explosion he triggered. Nothing but flames remained in the ruins of the tents and sheds, all of their machinery were blown to bits.

Exhausted from taking on hundreds of terrorists at once, he sat down. The man grabbed the water bottle he had brought with him and emptied it into his mouth. He looked at the flames sadly, as it reminded him of his company's own downfall.

He had failed the company. He had failed his father's legacy. His father built the company, Moon Access, from his own sweat and blood and now, because of a stupid thought, he lost it all.

Because of Schnee. The greedy man who saw the potential in his invention and tried to steal it and he failed; although he did cut off all the dust supplies to Moon Access, causing its downfall.

"Moon!"

A voice yelled from behind, "Phoenix Garnet Moon! This had gone too far!"

A man in White Fang uniform approached from the shadows, aiming a bow at Phoenix.

Phoenix stood up and faced the man, gripping the Crimson Scorch - his gun with a blade - tightly.

**Now...**

Phoenix gripped the Crimson Scorch tightly. He loaded the gun with Trail (His own invention, which was used as a Dust substitute but significantly weaker) and aimed at the targets.

Phoenix fired three times; all three shots hit the dead centre of the target boards.

"Heh," Phoenix muttered to himself, "I'm awesome."

Phoenix reloaded again and fired, the shot exploded on impact as it hit the fuel tank behind the targets, pieces of red-hot metal rained down on the training ground floor.

"Well, what a waste. It took so much effort to bring the tank here and it only lasted for one shot," said Phoenix, disappointed, "but hey, bulls-eye! Am I right?"

**Then...**

"Still not dead?" asked Phoenix, "You terrorists are so tough eh? Destroying buildings and killing innocents?"

"They're humans. Humans are not innocent; therefore you are also not innocent!"

"Well, I know I'm not. Just between you and me, I really hate killing all you people but I cannot convert  _all_  of you to good  _or_ hand you over to the officials as there’s too much of you. I honestly think that working with organised groups is such a fuss, am I right?" said Phoenix with a smirk.

"Shut up," said the White Fang member.

"Well-"

Before Phoenix could finish the White Fang member fired the arrow. Phoenix gasped in surprise before leaning sideways hoping to evade it. Unfortunately he was too slow to react and the arrow struck his right eye.

Phoenix screamed in pain, raising the Crimson Scorch and fired; the White Fang member collapsed in response.

"Ahhh-"

Phoenix knelt down. He took a deep breath; counting to three he pulled the arrow out along with his eye.

He stared at the eye for a while.

"I am never going to let anyone take away any more things from me!" Phoenix muttered himself before placing the eye into his mouth, swallowing it.

Phoenix felt sick and wanted to vomit. He forced himself not to.

Silently and slowly, darkness invaded his vision.

He fell onto his back as the fires around him burned.

 

** Storm and Tide **

 

"Stay away from the Faunus."

That's what Teal was told to do.

The spiky blonde haired boy sat on the rooftops of Kuo Kuana, deep in thought.

He wore a thick blue jacket to keep himself warm from the cold as he peered towards the ocean, thinking about the instruction.

"Stay away from the Faunus."

It was more of an advice and less of an instruction, but it was a good advice. Menagerie was the land of the faunus, not humans. It would be a very tiring process to explain what a human was doing in Menagerie.

He was an orphan, no more, no less; a human who happened to grow up in Menagerie.

Teal looked towards the house of the Chieftain, Ghira. Ghira seemed to be a kind man but Teal was too scared of him to ever go near him.

The sky flashed with light, followed by a loud clash of thunder. Heavy rain followed, falling on the rooftops.

"Stay away from the Faunus."

That was what Teal did... mostly. But once in a while he wanted to leave his small isolated place and see the big city.

Kuo Kuana. The place where he felt most at home even though he was an outsider.

It was dangerous to be in plain sight like he was currently, but Teal thought that the open location on the roofs makes him feel free.

Then Teal spotted two people emerging on the roof, suspiciously carrying a heavy looking bag. Teal squinted to get a better look. One of the people seemed to have a pair of goat horns and the other one who carried the bag had a wolf tail.

Thieves.

Teal thought about chasing them and risking his safety but decided against it until a woman's cry of burglars was heard.

Teal grabbed his Cyclone Gush (Metal plated dust infused fan) out of his pocket and charged at the thieves. When the thieves saw him they let out a yelp of surprise and brandished their knives. The Goat faunus leaped forward to stab Teal. Teal opened his fan to block the knife with a push, knocking both the knife and the faunus on the floor.

The Wolf faunus dropped the bag and started to jab at Teal, but Teal avoided the attack with ease. Just when Teal began to attack, the Goat recovered and swiped at Teal's feet. Teal back-flipped behind the Goat, hammering the fan down his neck; he closed the fan and knocked the Goat out in the process.

Teal then focused on the Wolf, who already began charging at him. Teal swung the fan, opening it, causing an energy slash. The Wolf tried to block it with his knife but was soon disarmed. The Wolf looked at Teal with anger, performing a roundhouse kick, taking Teal by surprise. Teal grunted as the kick knocked the Cyclone Gush out of his hands. He tried to pick it up but was kicked in the face again by the Wolf. Wincing in pain, Teal stood up to face his opponent before throwing a punch at the Wolf. The Wolf blocked the attack, while aiming another kick at Teal. Teal jumped into the air and launched himself back with his semblance. He bent down to grab the fan as the Wolf charged again. Teal opened the fan, swiping it, he created a strong gust blowing on the Wolf, knocking him off the roof.

Just when Teal thought that the fight was over, a scream sounded underneath.

Teal jumped down from the roof to see the Wolf holding another knife on the neck of a middle aged woman. The Wolf grinned.

"Drop the weapon if you want her to live."

Teal froze. He thought for a moment before dropping the fan.

"Good, now step away," said the Wolf.

Teal looked at the Wolf's smirking face and the woman's terrified eyes, and held up his hands.

"Okay..."

Teal slowly moved back a few steps before suddenly pushing his right hand forward, activating his semblance, creating a stinging gust and knocked the Wolf over. Teal dashed forward while the Wolf was dazed, punching him in the face and knocked him out.

The woman just stayed frozen in shock, staring at Teal, "You... are... a human?"

 

**The Song**

 

Lilac Mona, the blue-haired girl wearing a simple magenta dress stood in the sparring room facing her opponent.

She and her team mates always liked to go to the sparring rooms in their spare time. This time only one of her teammates came: Scarlet, the leader.

Lilac gripped her flute, pushing a button turning it into a shotgun.

"Begin!" shouted Scarlet, dashing forward with her sword. Lilac fired some shots but was blocked by Scarlet's blade. When Scarlet got closer Lilac ran back to gain distance while reloading her gun.

Scarlet continued to advance as Lilac reloaded. Seeing this Lilac fired continuously around Scarlet, finally forcing her to stop and duck behind an object for cover.

"Not fair Lilac!" shouted Scarlet over the gunfire, "I have no long range!"

"Your problem!" laughed Lilac, "Don't blame me for having a better weapon design!"

Scarlet waited for the gunshots to stop, popping her head around the obstacle, but then ducked it immediately as Lilac fired another shot.

Scarlet sighed. She leaped into the air, deflecting further shots by Lilac, landing in front of her while swiping the blade down.

Lilac pressed another button, transforming the gun back to the flute and parried the blade away. She avoided another swipe before swinging the flute at Scarlet's legs. Scarlet jumped, slashing the blade toward Lilac’s chest.

Lilac began to hum a song she remembered with a fast rhythm and a joyful melody. She moved with the beat, ducking the slash and kicked at Scarlet. Scarlet dodged, her blade chopping down at Lilac’s leg. Lilac retracted her leg and sent another blow with her flute while the song reached its climax. Scarlet redirected her blade to meet the flute. Sparks formed as the weapons clashed.

Lilac pushed the sword down and aimed for another strike. Scarlet raised the sword and parried the attack away. They exchanged attacks for another five times before their weapons clashed again, the blade locked between one of the flute’s finger holes.

Scarlet pushed forward, moving Lilac back against the wall due to her being stronger. Lilac tried to push back, grinding her teeth, but failed as she was overpowered.

“Do you forfeit?” asked Scarlet, grinning.

“No!”

Lilac twisted her flute around, trapping Scarlet’s sword tip in the finger hole. With a swing and another twist, Lilac sent the sword flying out of Scarlet’s hands. Seizing the opportunity Lilac swung the flute again at Scarlet.

Scarlet ducked and rolled to the location of her sword. She picked it up and twisted its handle, charging the blade with fire dust resulting in a faint red glow.

Lilac panted before readying her flute in a defence position. Scarlet charged forwards and sliced the sword down at Lilac. Lilac leaned sideways to avoid the slice, while sending a roundhouse kick at Scarlet’s legs to knock her off balance. Scarlet brought her blade down in defence. Feeling the heat of the charged sword, Lilac stopped the kick in mid-air and aimed for a blow.

Scarlet moved back to avoid the strike, creating just enough distance for Lilac to activate her semblance. A small explosion could be heard as Scarlet was knocked away. Lilac dashed forwards, transforming the flute back to the gun again, aiming it at Scarlet.

"I win," Lilac smiled, panting.

Scarlet glared at Lilac with annoyance, "What have we talked about? NO SEMBLANCES!"

 

**Yang**

 

Duality.

All things are dual: good and bad; hot and cold; day and night; male and female; hard and soft; Yang and Yin.

Sen believed in duality. But often the balance tips, leading to disaster.

Sen didn't just believe in duality, he  _knows_  duality. As soon as he discovered his semblance, he saw duality itself.

The other Sen inside him, equal but opposite.

His Carer (that's what Sen calls him as it's the best description) told him that to master his semblance and aura usage he must learn to  _see_  his other side.

Sen never knew what that meant, and now was not the time to think.

A King Taijitu emerged out of the trees, the two snake heads hissing at Sen.

The King Taijitu is also an example of duality, with their black and white heads working together as a perfect killing machine.

No time to think about that.

Sen opened the pockets in his legs and grabbed the Pan-Long (his weapon). The Pan-Long assembled itself into two tonfas, Sen held it as swords holding the shorter part of the stick, his fingers gripped between the handles. He yelled as he charged at the black head. The black head swirled sideways to dodge while the white head opened its mouth to attack Sen.

Sen turned and swung his right tonfa towards the fangs of the snake. The white head closed its mouth and retreated as the black one started attacking. Sen then turned the tonfas around to use them as hammers, pushing the branch section of the weapon at the fangs to block the black head's attempt to bite. He yelled again, pushing the weapon, snapping the black head's fangs. Sen did a back flip and then leaped into the air; weapons rose above his head, they were hammered down onto the black head. With a crunch the head’s bone coverings cracked.

The white head swooped in, knocking Sen flying towards a tree. Sen stumbled up.

Sen triggered the Pan-Long so that it transformed into a bo staff, clutching it with both of his hands. Now that the black head lost its fangs, the white head was the main problem.

The black head then began to charge at Sen. Sen ducked, thrusting the staff through the head from its jaw. The black head collapsed. Sen panted as he pulled the staff out of the head.

"Come on! Your little buddy's dead, now let's 1v1!" he yelled.

The white head charged at Sen, who held his staff and stood his ground.

The head opened its mouth to swallow Sen but he sidestepped away, thrusting the staff through the red pupil-less eyes. With a jerk, the head collapsed.

Sen gasped for breath as the grimm disintegrated. He sat down by a tree and rested his head on the stump.

"You know that your weapon has a blade for a reason," said an old man approaching the now-exhausted Sen.

Sen turned to look at the old man, exhausted, "Yes sir..."


	2. The Beginning?

There was a wooden house by a large satellite dish located in the forests of northern Mistral. Surrounded by trees and a force field stretching 100 meters in diameter this was just about the safest place one could be except for the cities.

Inside the house were piles of scientific equipment, some books and a TV. The walls are pinned with newspaper articles concerning the man Phoenix Garnet Moon and the company Moon-Access.

There were pictures of the young man as an Atlas Soldier, as a company CEO, and as a scientist.

But that was a long time ago.

Now Phoenix just sat on the sofa, playing with his yo-yo, watching the Vytal Festival tournament like he always did every two years when it was held.

The Vytal Festival, it was supposedly symbolizing unity between kingdoms and exchange in culture. The most celebrated festival in the world. Phoenix enjoyed watching the huntsmen and huntresses fight as a child, sitting at the back seats with his father.

But that was also a long time ago.

Now the fights were uninteresting and predictable, except for that last match where the yellow girl broke that silver guy’s leg: the irony made Phoenix chuckle slightly.

Now it was Pyrrha Nikos’ fight, which was always something to watch.

Pyrrha was supposedly a very skilled fighter winning the Mistral regional tournament four years in a row. Phoenix heard about her of course, and looked forward to watching the fight.

And Phoenix watched till the end; it was interesting all right, but it filled him with shock.

Pyrrha seemed to have activated some kind of a shock wave and her opponent was sliced to pieces by the wires attached to her swords. What was more shocking is that the opponent seemed in reality to be a robot or android.

Phoenix gazed at the screen, mouth wide and lost for words; his mind rapidly flipping through all the possible explanations for such a turn of events.

Then the screen flashed and changed to a display of black queen chess piece on red background, with a woman’s voice speaking clearly and calmly.

“This is  _not_  a tragedy. This was _not_  an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your  _children_ , to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than  _men_.”

_I didn’t and don’t need to hand over my trust to anybody_ , Phoenix snorted.

“Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both.”

Hearing this, Phoenix laughed, knowing that the woman meant General Ironwood, his old “Commanding Officer” whom he disliked.

He then listened patiently, slightly disturbed at the speech as it went on, his smile fading.

“Our kingdoms are at the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So, I ask you, when the first shots are fired, who do you think you can trust?”

The woman finally finished. Phoenix stared at the screen which turned static, silent in thought.

Phoenix stood up from the sofa and started to pace around the room, seemingly agitated.

“See, this is strange. More than strange, strange is an understatement!”

Phoenix began talking to himself as he always did when something struck his mind.

“Question one: Why does whoever did this do it? Answer is pretty straightforward, probably because she wanted to cause chaos.”

“Question two: Who is she? Or rather who’s the mastermind as the woman might just be a pawn. What do we know?”

Phoenix sat in front of his desk, opening his computer.

“While I’m terribly bored and have nothing better to do, let’s just investigate this. So we know that she had complete control over the broadcasting system, and a black queen is shown. What does this tell us? This event was planned carefully, the person has power and probably like chess. By entering this into the police database I hacked into I could find the most likely person behind all of this. See Dad? Hacking isn’t useless.”

Phoenix looked behind him, smiling but falters after realising that his father was not there.

“Don’t worry dad, I’m not just doing this for the fun of it. I’m going to make you proud and they will speak our family’s name with admiration again.”

**_Meanwhile in Beacon…_ **

Lilac stood in shock as the speakers delivered the warnings of a grimm attack.

_“Threat level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner.”_

“Nine?!”

Lilac looked up to see masses of nevermores flying towards her, their black bodies seemed to join into a gigantic sheet covering the sky and blocking the sun.

“Oh my goodness…”

She dashed out of the cafe she was in and grabbed her flute before being met with nevermore. Lilac continued running as the nevermore flew above her, trying to grab her with its talons. Lilac reached a T junction, turning right as the nevermore crashed through a shop window.

Remembering the route to the Amity Colosseum, Lilac continued to run in its direction, worrying about her teammates who were still in it.

Suddenly a dozen more beowolves blocked her path. With a sigh Lilac charged at the pack, aiming to attack the grimms’ eyes and dodging swipes of the claws before making her way past them.

Lilac ran. She continued to run from the beowolves which turned and began to chase her; she was running for her life now, hopefully to safety when she arrives at the Colosseum. Lilac pressed a button changing the flute into a shotgun, ready to attack from a distance.

She loaded her gun and aimed it at another grimm which was crawling on a roof ready to pounce. Lilac fired as it jumped, before falling down to the ground.

The main task now wasn’t to protect the school, it was not to save people; it was _basic survival_.

After over ten minutes of running and shooting she finally saw other students battling the grimm while they slowly retreated towards the landing pads.

Lilac suddenly saw a boy who she recognised as one of her team leader Scarlet’s friends. Lilac ran towards him, while shooting at an ursa which was coming close. The ursa collapsed as the shot hit its head.

“Thanks,” the boy said.

“Have you seen my team?” Lilac asked quickly.

“They were defending a shop full of people,” the boy whispered after a long pause.

“Where are they?”

“They fought well,” the boy mumbled, looking down.

“They’re-”

“Dead,” the boy continued, “I’m sorry.”

Another long pause.

Lilac finally sighed, fighting back tears.

“They fought well,” the boy repeated.

Lilac nodded, trembling, “Let’s get to safety.”

She turned to see several Atlesian Knights glowing red aiming their rifles at her, ready to fire. Lilac turned her shotgun back to a flute, ready to charge through the Knights and arrive to the landing pads.

**_Meanwhile in Mistral…_ **

“Only two in the database fit the criteria well, and one of them is in prison.”

Phoenix stared at the screen, reading out the information on the most likely suspect.

“The Chess-master. Besart Gilford. Usually uses chess pieces as a calling card. Apparently runs a criminal network. He’s probably the person responsible.”

Phoenix spun on his chair, sipping a mug of coffee, “Better get ready Chess-maker! I’m coming!”


	3. Masters

Teal slumped on the bench by the table, still exhausted from the fight and wet from the rain.

“I must thank you child,” the woman began, closing the doors and windows, “I owe you my life.”

Half an hour ago the police arrived, carrying the two thieves away. Teal hid in the basement to avoid suspicion.

“Nah, it’s nothing,” waved Teal tiredly.

The woman then poured some tea into a cup and handed it to Teal, “You know I’ve heard rumours about an old man living in an isolated area in the forest and keeping a human boy there, never believed it.”

“There’s a rumour about me?” Teal raised an eyebrow.

“Well the old man is quite famous for his rudeness and that. He got a reputation for himself over the years. He’s called Bodhi Threestar is it?”

“Yes. Well he never told me about anything besides fighting and some other stuff,” said Teal as he sipped the tea, immediately spitting it back into the cup after realizing it was too hot.

“Oh?” said the woman, curious, “Does he tell you about Menagerie? Or current world events?”

“Well he did tell me that humans sort of banished faunus into this place,” Teal answered, “and that there’s a group called the White Fang who hates humans or something and the Chieftain here was called Ghira. But he rarely mentions what happens beyond Menagerie.”

“So you didn’t hear the news then?” asked the woman.

“What news?”

“Do you have a scroll?”

“Well I was told that scrolls just distract me so I am not allowed to have one,” replied Teal, “but I hope I will have a scroll one day. What’s the news?”

“Do you know about the huntsmen academies?” the woman asked, sitting down at a chair.

“Yeah… Each of the four kingdoms have one, training warriors to fight evil or something.”

“Yeah, that. Yesterday the news came that Beacon, the academy of Vale, was destroyed.”

Teal sat still, confused, “What does this mean?”

“It means, child,” the woman explained, “scroll signals are now cut off, making communication difficult; and that the world is going to change.”

**_Meanwhile in Vale…_ **

“What do you mean that they’re dead?”

Lilac pounded her fist onto the desk.

“It means that your teammates’ names aren’t on the list of survivors,” explained the police officer patiently, “I’m sorry but that means they did not survive the attack. They’re dead. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Lilac walked out of the police station, depressed. She knew that they were dead. She knew deep down that they did not have a chance making it through that mess, especially when Scarlet’s friend confirmed their death on the day.

But she hoped, she _hoped_ that somehow, despite everything, they’re alive and the boy was mistaken.

Now, however, the hope was gone. They did not survive. They did not make it. They are dead.

Lilac crouched in the street corner and wept. Tears finally rushed out of her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.

Silently she cried.

**_Back in Menagerie…_ **

“Take it,” said the woman, handing Teal a white scroll, “I have a spare one, this is the least I could do to thank you.”

Teal shook his head, “sorry ma’am, but I can’t. You’ve agreed not to tell anyone about me and lied to the police. You have done enough.”

“Take it, I don’t need it since I have another one and that the communication towers are down,” continued the woman, stuffing the scroll into Teal’s pockets, “besides, if you don’t take it, I’ll be angry.”

Teal hesitated, but then decided against arguing further, “Then thank you for the generosity. Sorry for the trouble.”

“Are you sure you want to leave now? It’s really late.”

“Yes,” Teal said politely, “if I don’t get back to master before morning, I’ll be in big trouble.”

“In that case goodbye and good luck!” the old woman said, waving as Teal departed.

Teal leaped back on the roof and made his way back to his master’s wooden cottage, far away from the city.

“You back?”

Teal started at the sound of Bodhi’s voice as he entered the cottage.

“I thought that you’d never come back,” Bodhi said, lying on his bed, “the woman was nice, but you should know that not all faunus could act so friendlily towards humans. What if the White Fang saw you?”

“How-?” Teal began.

“Don’t think that I don’t know about your little nightly visits to the city,” Bodhi continued, “today you are lucky, but what about next time? What happens when you face more than just little thieves?”

“Sorry master,” Teal replied, bowing his head down.

“Don't go out again, Teal,” Bodhi said, “we faunus have night vision, and you don’t. That alone is a huge disadvantage. Now go back to bed. We have work tomorrow.”

Work. That meant farming, gardening and more fighting; things Teal did daily for the last ten years.

“Yes, master,” Teal said, but remained still.

“What are you waiting for?” asked Bodhi, raising his head slightly.

“Well, master,” Teal said nervously, “the woman told me that yesterday Beacon in Vale had been destroyed.”

At this Bodhi sat up from the bed, saying with a slight chuckle, “Beacon fell, huh? I knew that Ozpin wouldn’t succeed in everything.”

“Who’s Ozpin?”

“An old friend,” answered Bodhi, “no that doesn’t sound right. Just call him an old acquaintance. I used to owe him a small favour back in the day, and I repaid by helping him with some ‘issues’. Oh by the gods how I disliked him.”

Bodhi coughed and began to lie down on the bed, “but that isn’t important, just some interesting news. You should sleep now, it’s late.”

**_Some hours ago in Mistral…_ **

Neozane, the village in the woods of Mistral, it was peaceful, undisturbed.

Sen somehow ended up is this place a couple years ago when he left Vale for some excitement in his life. He somehow got lost in the forests and was found by an old man.

He called himself Armand Sky, which is curious as it isn’t a colour; but that was kind of understandable since he was very old. What’s more curious is the fact that Armand fights extremely well despite his age.

“Beacon was destroyed by Grimm.”

Armand and Sen sat by the table outside of their house, drinking some mushroom tea.

“What about-” began Sen with a worried voice.

“Don’t worry,” said Armand, “the region of Vale that your family live in is fine.”

Sen exhaled in relief, and then asked, “How many people are dead?”

“No idea, but quite a lot I presume.”

Sen stayed silent in thought.

“But the situation had been dealt with,” continued Armand, stroking his small white beard, “reconstruction would begin soon.”

“Oh…”

“Shame, with your skill you could be accepted by that academy with some proper training. Ozpin is pretty good at what he do.”

Sen chuckled, “well I couldn’t even defend myself before you trained me.”

Armand smiled, drinking the rest of his tea, “Ready to fight yet?”

Sen downed his drink before nodding.

“More ready than all the athletes in Remnant.”


	4. Busy Day

Armand Sky was very old, but he could somehow fight extremely well. Using his sword, he was rumoured to be undefeatable, slicing his way out of any situation.

Armand was the elder and founder of the village, respected and revered. He still works as a detective for the local area, which includes the three villages that surrounds it: Milligan, Regina, and Himilichi.

“Okay, as usual,” said Armand holding up his sword, “I’ll attack, you’ll defend. If any of my attacks land the session ends. Ready?”

Sen nodded, holding up his tonfas.

Suddenly, Armand dashed towards Sen with a swing. Sen raised a tonfa to block it. When the weapons clashed, Sen could feel a violent jolt in his arm. Sen sent his other tonfa forward to Armand’s waist but was blocked easily.

Armand swung the sword again.

Sen turned to block but the sword switched direction in mid-air. Sidestepping behind him Armand thrusted the sword at Sen’s back.

Sen turned around just in time to block the strike. He looked up to prepare for another block, but Armand vanished.

Then he felt coldness creeping up his neck. Tensing his muscles, Sen spun on his heels, lifting his tonfa up to stop the incoming strike. Sen sensed another attack, before blocking it with his left.

Armand bounded up while sending a flurry of slashes from above. Feeling sweat dripping down his head, Sen frantically waved his tonfas around to attempt to defend himself against such an attack. Sen blocked many strikes but narrowly escapes being hit when he failed to stop one.

Armand landed, using the momentum from the fall, he pummelled the sword down. Sen, now exhausted, lifted his weapons to block the blow. As soon as the sword hit, a small bang could be heard as a small crater formed at Sen’s feet.

Armand then sent a kick on the panting Sen’s chest, knocking him back.

Still catching his breath, Sen stood up while leaning on a tree for support.

“You’re getting better,” stated Armand.

“Well you’re not even trying to fight,” chuckled Sen.

“I am training you,” said Armand, “you have improved a lot since last month. You’re better at redirecting energy, and better reaction time.”

“Thanks.”

“However just waving your arms around can’t save you from an attack,” continued Armand, “you were panicking. Now I’m going to teach you how to deal with that kind of rapid attack.”

“Okay…” Sen sighed.

**_In the North…_ **

Ring-

Phoenix looked at the screen of his scroll, waiting impatiently for someone to pick up.

“Yes sir?” said a young boy on the screen.

“Hi Jade. You took long,” said Phoenix, “worried that you’re going out playing arcade or eating sweets.”

“Sorry sir. I was gardening.”

“Anyway, I need to know, is the police station open?”

Jade was an orphan and Phoenix’s only contact to the outside world. His job was to help Phoenix purchase food and needed resources in return for some money. Although living fairly close to a town, Phoenix never liked going there.

“Yes sir,” reported Jade, “It is open for another few hours. Do you want me to-”

“No it’s fine,” interrupted Phoenix, “thank you Jade.”

Phoenix closed his scroll and dropped into his pocket. He put the Crimson Scorch in his holster and walked out of his door towards the direction of the town.

Three quarters of an hour later, he arrived. The streets were relatively empty, with only a couple casual pedestrians on the road. Phoenix continued until he saw the police station, its glass doors was open and one of its windows was cracked, presumably by somebody’s football.

Phoenix walked in.

“Please state the reason of your arrival,” said a police officer sitting at the reception desk carelessly, reading a newspaper.

“I’m here to see the Commissioner,” replied Phoenix calmly.

“I’m afraid you’ll need an appointment,” said the officer.

Phoenix sighed.

“What’re you reading?” asked Phoenix suddenly, curious.

“A newspaper, can’t you see?” grumbled the officer, turning a page.

“Yes I can see that,” said Phoenix, leaning on the desk, “but what is it about?”

“Beacon. That’s what all newspapers are talking about these days, now if you don’t have an appointment, you need to-” the officer glared up impatiently, before turning his expression from annoyance into shock.

“I need to?”

“Oh my goodness you’re- you’re-” gasped the officer.

“Phoenix Garnet Moon, I know,” smiled Phoenix.

“B-But you’re-”

“Dead. I know. But clearly I’m not.”

“Okay, hold up a minute,” said the officer nervously, holding up a phone, “Commissioner. There’s someone you need to see.”

A moment later, a man wearing a neat uniform and a cap appeared, his mouth was wide open.

“You’re-”the commissioner began.

“Phoenix. I’m dead. But not. Yeah yeah whatever… Let’s talk,” Phoenix said before walking past the Commissioner and into the room he came from.

-=+=-

“…So I need to cross reference all criminal activity with the files on the Chess-master Besart Gilford,” explained Phoenix, “I don’t have enough data on the info-banks I hacked from the police.”

“You hacked the-”

“Yes, I did. Sorry, that was a long time ago and I was bored, not the cross-referencing please.”

Finally recovering from the shock of seeing a “ghost”, the Commissioner asked, “But why do you want to know? He’s not the most important criminal at the moment. Everyone is trying to catch Roman Torchwick, who was said to be seen in Beacon during the event.”

“I’m doing this because that I believe Besart is linked to the fall of Beacon.”

“Really?” questioned the Commissioner.

“Yes, the event annoys me and I want to get to the bottom of it. So please no more questions. Once the cross referencing is done, I’ll leave without causing any more trouble.”

“Yes…”

The Commissioner then turned to his computer and typed key reference works into the system.

“There,” said the Commissioner after a few minutes of searching, showing Phoenix the screen.

Phoenix grinned in delight, taking photos of the pages of information with his scroll, “Thanks a lot. And please, do not tell anyone about me. I would like to be discreet to catch the guy. And if he happens to be responsible for Beacon I’ll give you credit.”

Hearing this, the Commissioner smiled and agreed.

When Phoenix walked out of the police station he was greeted by Jade, who wore a white coat.

“Hi sir,” Jade said, “I thought you said that you would never go out in public.”

“Special occasion,” replied Phoenix, smiling, “I just had a very good day.”


	5. Fang and Claw (Part 1)

Teal gazed at the scroll in fascination. He touched its white casing. Although scratched, it still has a shine. Teal opened the scroll to see it blink into life, the screen lighting up, asking for a password.

Teal grinned in excitement, typing in a password that he wouldn’t forget. The scroll then took pictures of Teal, storing them into its owner recognition system.

The woman not only gave Teal the scroll, she also reset it so that Teal can use it himself.

“This is so cool!” Teal exclaimed with joy.

“What’s so cool?” asked Bodhi walking by, dressed in his red robe.

Hearing this, Teal immediately closed the scroll, hiding it in his pocket.

“Nothing!”

“Not really convincing, since I can see the scroll in your pocket,” said Bodhi, “but I guess you can keep it since it’s your reward for helping someone. Just don’t use it when training.”

Teal let out a breath of relief.

“Thanks master.”

“No worries,” replied Bodhi, “just don’t cause any more trouble.”

**_In Mistral…_ **

According to the cross-referenced files, the Chess-master has connections all over the world, with all sorts of organisations and thieves. It seemed that he had established a massive global underground network that he operates in.

Phoenix was content with the information he got, asking Jade to bring in the last batch of resources for him that could last for half a year before sending him to the south of Mistral to gather information in the criminal world where Phoenix found some information relating to the Chess-master.

Now all he had to do was waiting for information to come back from Jade. Feeling slightly bored, Phoenix decided to take a walk outside.

He strolled deep into the woods surrounding him, out of his protective force field, hoping to find some adventure.

Suddenly, a shuffle of leaves could be heard. Was it the wind? Or maybe some Grimm?

The noise came again, this time louder.

Alert, Phoenix stamped his right foot, sending his pistol flying out of its holster into his hand.

He then heard the sound of metal slicing through air. Instinctively he jumped away from his current location. When he turned to look at the location he saw with astonishment a halberd with its blades burying deep in the soil.

“Who’s there?!” yelled Phoenix.

Silence.

Phoenix studied the halberd. It was about two meters long, with long blades taking up almost a fifth of the total length. On the blade attached what looked like the barrel of a gun. Looking at the angle of the halberd, Phoenix glanced up towards the direction where it had been thrown from, which was the branch of a large covered by thick leaves.

Activating his mechanical eye, he scanned the branch for infrared radiation. The scan showed a humanoid figure crouching on the tree.

“Who’s there?” Phoenix repeated, “Stop acting so mysterious and show yourself or just _leaf_ me alone!”

No answer.

“Not even appreciating my pun? Come on! Come out!”

Phoenix raised his pistol at the branch and fired. Almost simultaneously with the blast, a hooded figure in black leaped out from the tree, landing on the halberd and kicked Phoenix away.

Phoenix stumbled back up, gazing at the attacker, who was cocking his head and swinging his monkey tail.

A faunus.

“Are you with the White Fang?” asked Phoenix, aiming his pistol again, “What do you want with me?”

The faunus continued to stare.

“I’ve dealt with the White Fang before, and I’ve destroyed all their factions I’ve come across. I’m not afraid of you,” said Phoenix.

The faunus pulled his halberd off the ground and aimed the gun barrel at Phoenix.

“So we’re doing this huh?”

Phoenix dashed to the side as he saw his opponent’s finger twitching on the trigger, avoiding a blast. Phoenix fired two shots at his attacker, but the faunus blocked them with a swipe of his weapon.

While the opponent was blocking his shots, Phoenix charged forwards trying to bring a slice down with the blade on his pistol. Seeing this, his opponent lifted the halberd and plunged it at Phoenix.

Phoenix blocked, pushing the polearm away with all his strength and attempted another stab.

The faunus was surprisingly fast and agile, evading the attack and landing a powerful kick at Phoenix’s head. The blow felt as if he was hit by a sledgehammer, pain filled his skull. Dazed, he was punched again in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Phoenix fell.

The faunus towered over Phoenix, holding the halberd’s blade up his neck, and finally spoke.

“Before you die, I just want you to know that this is what you get for interfering with the Chess-master.”

Phoenix scanned the area with his mechanical eye, desperately searching for a way out. None could be found.

He could try to find an opportunity to shoot, but given his opponent’s reaction speed, the faunus would most certainly notice any movement Phoenix makes.

“There’s no way out of this,” said the attacker, as if reading his mind, “now die.”

It was then his eye found something. The inbuilt computer system detected a weak point on his attacker’s weapon – the gun barrel on the blade.

Just when the faunus lifted the halberd to deliver a final blow, Phoenix raised his pistol and fired.

The blast darted into the gun barrel of the Faunus’s halberd, exploding the weapon into pieces, bits of metal flew in all directions. Phoenix shielded himself with his arms.

The faunus was knocked back, stunned in surprise. Phoenix took the chance to dash forward, holding his pistol’s blade up the faunus’s neck.

“Who are you? Are you working for the White Fang?” Phoenix asked.

“White Fang? Ha! That’s funny,” the faunus chuckled, “they’re nothing compared to us.”

“How do you know about me looking for the Chess-master?” Phoenix questioned again.

“The master has eyes everywhere,” the faunus chuckled.

“Who are you?!” demanded Phoenix, his free hand grabbing the faunus’s coat.

“We are the Claw!” the faunus suddenly announced, chuckling, pointing at a spot behind Phoenix, “There’s one of us right there…”

Phoenix turned around before feeling a tug in his hands. When he turned back the faunus disappeared.

Cursing himself for falling for such a small trick, he quickly scanned the area, activating infrared sensors in his mechanical eye.

Nothing.

The faunus was gone.


End file.
